


A Detective's Persona in Space

by AWildOreo



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Mitsuru's there probably only one chapter, Naoto maybe more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 09:48:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27469012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWildOreo/pseuds/AWildOreo
Summary: Mitsuru Kirijo needs someone to investigate the Phantom Thieves and Okumura, and Naoto is the perfect person for the job. Unfortunately, she's unable to actually enter the Metaverse and can only send her Persona by itself.Okumura's Palace but I throw Naoto's Persona in there for the heck of it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to this fic! I have a few ideas for it, lets see if I implement them properly or at all lol.

Naoto Shirogane took note of the bustling of the workers around her. They seemed weary of her, though that was to be expected since she was a detective, and detectives don’t visit the Okumura Foods Headquarters for no reason.

Truthfully, she had multiple reasons for visiting the building that day. Unfortunately, they all painted the company she was investigating in a bad light.

Turning toward security workers escorting her around the building, she cleared her throat, gaining their attention.

“I have to go to the restroom. I will be back momentarily.”

She turned and sped walked to the closest restroom she could find. Inside, Naoto looked around for any other people. After confirming that she was alone, she opened her jacket and took out what seemed to be a gun. Looking at it, she remembered what she was told not too long ago.

_ Several Days Earlier _

Naoto entered the office of Mitsuru Kirijo, heiress of the Kirijo group. Mitsuru had learned that Naoto was in Tokyo for a certain case, and asked her to visit.

“Shirogane,” Mitsuru spoke as soon as the door closed, “I’m sure you know that this is not a cordial visit.”

“Of course, Kirijo-san. If you’re asking me to see you, then there must be something serious happening that you want me to investigate.”

Mitsuru nodded. “Then allow me to cut to the chase. Yamagishi has detected increased Shadow activity all throughout Tokyo. Unfortunately, the Shadow activity seems to be happening in a world different from ours, and we have almost no way of accessing it. I say almost because recently we have found a way to access it, but only with our Personas.” She then opened a drawer in her desk and took out what seemed to be a gun. Engraved on the side of it was S.O. “This Evoker has been specially modified to allow a person to summon their Persona into this new Shadow world. We still have not figured out how to send a person there, however.”

“Interesting,” Naoto mused, “an Evoker specially made to allow someone to summon a Persona into a different world.” She crossed her arms. “I suppose this question is obvious, but what do I have to do with this? Yes, I am working in Tokyo, and the Shadow activity is in Tokyo, but I am not a Shadow Operative. Why not send someone else?”

Mitsuru sighed. “Truthfully, the Shadow Operatives have essentially been banned from working in the area. Masayoshi Shido made sure of that. We suppose he pulled some strings to make sure we couldn’t do anything to stop him after he learned about Cognitive Psience. He is probably using the Shadow activity to his advantage.”

The detective raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re asking me to do your work for you? Kirijo-san, I am here for an investigation. As interesting as this is, I cannot drop everything for something not related to my work.”

“Believe it or not,” the heiress replied, “this is very much related to your work. I heard you were asked to look into Kunikazu Okumura, is that correct?”

“Yes,” Naoto answered. “A rival company said that Okumura Foods seemed to be profiting too much from other companies’ misfortunes from Psychotic Breakdowns and the like, so they asked me to investigate.”

Mitsuru nodded. “Have you heard about the Phantom Thieves? It is said that their next target is Okumura himself.”

“I see. The police I work with always seemed to keep me away from Phantom Thief related work, that always seemed suspicious to me. However, based on the things you have told me, you believe that the Phantom Thieves are going to target Okumura, and they are using the world Yamagishi-san mentioned?”

“Yes, and since you are there as well, I would like you to use your Persona to keep tabs on them. I don’t believe they are the ones causing Mental Shutdowns, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure of what they’re doing.” Mitsuru lifted the Evoker off the table and held it toward Naoto. “Do you accept this assignment?”

Naoto grabbed the Evoker. “I do. Is there anything special I need to do with this?”

“Specifically, no. Just aim it at your head like a regular Evoker and fire. However, Yamagishi stated that you cannot use it just anywhere. In most places, using the Evoker will place your Persona in a large Shadow nest like Tartarus was. In certain locations, however, Yamagishi has sensed distortions that, if you fire the Evoker, will place your Persona in a different area altogether. One such distortion is located at the Okumura Foods Headquarters.”

“And in order to have my Persona enter that area, I have to fire this” Naoto raised the Evoker slightly, “ _inside_ the building. That might be difficult.”

Mitsuru gave the smallest of smiles. “I have no doubt that you will be able to do this. Thank you for your help, and good luck.”

Naoto tipped her hat, turned, and left the office.

_ Present Day _

Looking at the Evoker, Naoto hesitated. She wasn’t used to aiming a gun at herself, since it was her primary weapon during her past days of fighting Shadows was an actual gun, but she had a mission. The detective raised the Evoker to her temple, whispered “Persona”, and fired right after.

Her Persona, Yamato Sumeragi, appeared translucently in front of her, helmeted head staring straight into her eyes. The Persona nodded, and disappeared.

 _I am thou, and thou art I_ , a voice like Naoto’s, yet slightly deeper, echoed through her head. The voice then giggled. _Don’t worry, me! I’ll make myself as useful as possible!_

Naoto sighed. Yamato was her inner self, so while she didn’t really express her more childish side, he made up for that by sometimes being more childish than Teddie.

After double checking that Yamato had actually left (the somewhat empty feeling she sensed convinced her) she put the gun back into her jacket.

Shaking her head, she hoped nothing went terribly wrong, and left the restroom, returning to security and resuming the investigation of Okumura Foods.


	2. Chapter 2

Yamato Sumeragi wasn’t sure what to expect. Considering this was a world where Shadows roamed, he assumed that Okumura’s mind would influence the world around. What he did not assume, however, was that the world would take the form of a humungous spaceport. Looking around, he noticed he was in what seemed to be the entrance, which confused the Persona. Shouldn’t he be deeper in? He decided not to think too much about it and started exploring.

Floating through the technologically advanced building, Yamato came to an area that had a clear view of the floor below it. Looking below, he saw humanoid robots working themselves incredibly hard. Some even collapsed from overuse.

“Hmm,” the Persona mused to itself, “if this place was made from Okumura’s mind, or at least influenced…” It focused closer on the working robots. “There’s no way those could be Shadows, could they? Either way, this is something Naoto would love to see…”

Filing the mental notes away for later, Yamato prepared to fly in for a closer look. Before he could go, he heard the muffled voices of people yelling coming from further in. Deciding this was more interesting, the bird like Persona continued on deeper into the spaceport, hugging the walls and avoiding any of the less humanoid looking robots, which Yamato realized were actual Shadows.

Eventually Yamato Sumeragi reached a door that was open, and peering in, saw a group of costumed, masked individuals taking on a humungous robot, and it had help in the form of several of the worker robots.

Yamato almost couldn’t contain his excitement. He had found the Phantom Thieves this early in his investigation! _And_ he was going to observe their methods! Shaking in anticipation, he watched the costumed thieves dodge wildly predictable physical moves.

He watched in awe one of the group, dressed vaguely in French Renaissance clothing, grabbed their black colored mask, and ripped it off while yelling “Persona!” Never mind the fact that they could summon Personas, Yamato was more shocked at the summoning method. He and all the Investigation Team’s Personas were summoned via a card, and he knew the Shadow Operatives had their own way of summoning.

And the Persona itself! It was a huge persona with an equally large skirt, and its face was literally a mask that it held. It then used a move that he had never seen before, he thought he heard its user say “Psio”, so he at least knew the name of the move.

The move knocked down the huge robot, and then the black-masked one turned and high fived a member who looked like a cat. It followed up with wind, but to Yamato it seemed more powerful than normal. _Did the high five power it up?_

The cat then called out for an All-Out Attack, and the thieves rushed in, striking from every angle, eventually ending their attack, leaving only the large robot standing.

One of the thieves, wearing almost all black and having a white mask, summoned a large Persona that was red and black, wearing an incredibly tall black hat, and sporting humongous black wings sprouting from the middle of its torso. It used a move that reminded Yamato of Mudo, but weaker, and finished off the large robot.

Yamato was impressed by the thieves’ teamwork. But now he was faced with a choice: tail the thieves to see what else they could do, or find another way through the area and explore that way.

“Hey guys, there’s something behind us. Actually, I think they’ve been there a while.”

A feminine voice had been heard from overhead. Looking up, the Persona saw what looked like a UFO floating above. He didn’t see the thing fighting, so he figured that might be the navigator of the team. Looking ahead again, he saw that all the Phantom Thieves were looking right in his direction, tensed up in a fighting position.

So much for watching from a distance…

The white-masked one held up an arm. “Hold on,” his deep voice said, “we’ve never seen anything like this before… Oracle, what do you know?”

The UFO known as Oracle was quiet for a few moments, then, “…my sensors tell me that’s a Persona!” A few gasps rang out from the humans. “Let’s see… oh wow this thing is like an end game boss… Joker you don’t want to mess with this guy, it’d probably wipe us out really quickly!”

The thieves looked ready to bolt, so Yamato had to choose whether to show himself fully or leave.

Steeling himself, the Persona hopped to the middle of the doorway and yelled “Wait!” This caused the thieves to flinch but not run away.

“I don’t want to fight. I just…” Yamato trailed off. What would he tell the Phantom Thieves? That he was supposed to report to his other self about them? Crossing his arms, the Persona supposed that suggesting an alliance would work, but there was always the chance that they might not want to cooperate-

“HEY!”

Yamato was startled from his thinking by the shout of one of the thieves. This one had yellow hair, though it looked dyed, and he wore a skull mask.

He also seemed annoyed. “Are you gonna finish your sentence or what? You just… what? If you ask me that’s pretty suspi-“

“Skull,” the one named Joker interjected, “I really don’t think we should be badmouthing something that could wipe us out easily.” He then looked at Yamato, continuing, “Although we are curious to see what you were going to say, and who you are.”

The Persona scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I suppose I _should_ at least introduce myself. My name is Yamato Sumeragi. As you all know, I am a Persona.” He followed his introduction up with a slight bow. “I can’t tell you everything, but one of my objectives here is to observe your methods.”

At those words, the thieves tensed, and the cat spoke up. “Observe our methods? Sounds an awful lot like spying to me. What’s to say we won’t get arrested?”

Yamato giggled slightly and shook his head. “I can personally say that I will not arrest you, nor will my other self. We don’t think that you are the ones responsible.”

Most of the thieves relaxed, so Yamato took this as a sign so try something. “I believe we should work together,” he started, “we both have objectives we wish to accomplish here; perhaps if we collaborate, we’ll complete those tasks much quicker.”

Joker perked up at that. “Collaborate? As in work together? That doesn’t sound like a bad deal. What’s the catch?”

“Oh, there is no catch. I need to explore this place, and I’m supposing you do, too. Working together lets us get through more efficiently.”

Joker looked back to his teammates. “Does anyone object to working together with him?”

The other thieves looked somewhat unsure, looking at each other, before shrugging at their leader. The girl dressed for the French Renaissance spoke up. “I for one think that it’s a marvelous idea! We should get all the help we can, don’t you agree?” Scattered grunts of assent came from a few of the others.

Joker turned back to face Yamato Sumeragi. “Sorry, it’s just that we like unanimous decisions.” He held out a hand. “Looking forward to working with you.”

Yamato grasped the outstretched hand firmly and shook. “Likewise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had this chapter partially completed for a while now and I thought I might as well finish it.  
> Hi yes Yamato has no idea what he's looking at, and apparently I don't either because writing things in a way where a character doesn't know who or what things are is a pain.  
> Yamato: I'm going to watch these people from over here  
> Oracle: Whomst've is this  
> Yamato: Nvm *becomes a guest party member*
> 
> I just realized that when the thieves get Crow they're going to be like "Yo he's a worse Yamato" and he'll be so confused.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter because I feel inspired... I guess. Yay!

“So,” Joker said as everyone started down the spaceport’s hallway, “I believe introductions are in order. I’m Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves.”

He nodded to the cat, who murmured something to himself. “I am Mona, Phantom Thief extraordinaire. Watch yourself, I’m not going to trust just anyone joining.”

“Wow, can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Mona.” That was the skull-masked one. “Name’s Skull.” _Oh, really? Real original names, everyone._ “All you need to know is that I hit real hard.”

The cat girl turned towards Skull with an irritated look. “Oh, come on, Skull! He can’t be that bad!” Facing Yamato, she gave a smile and continued. “I’m Panther! My fire skills are as hot as they come!”

“Well,” Yamato said, “I guess it’s good that I null fire then.”

Most of the thieves gasped.

“Wait, really?” Skull shouted, “There anything _else_ we don’t know about you?”

“He also repels curse and bless,” Oracle piped up, “and there’s no weaknesses as far as I can see.”

“Interesting,” Joker mused, “What skills do you have?”

“While I mostly use light and dark,” They looked somewhat confused at that, “I have a plethora of skills at my disposal. Listing them would take too long.”

“…I see. Well, Fox, mind picking up where we left off?”

The fox-masked one nodded. “Very well. I am Fox. I am an artist who joined after my teammates showed me how terrible my former sensei was treating me.”

“That’s terrible,” Yamato solemnly said. “Did anything happen to that person?”

“Yes, thank you for asking. He turned himself in after the others and I gave him a change of heart.” His tone became slightly darker. “Trust me when I say he deserved it very much.”

“…oh.”

“Ah,” Fox said, slightly embarrassed, “I apologize for that. I am still getting over it.” He eyed Yamato curiously. “On an unrelated note, would you mind if I painted you? There’s a grace about you, yet-“

“Inari!” Oracle yelled, “You don’t go around asking random strangers if you can paint them!”

“But Oracle-“

“NO BUTS!”

The spiked girl with the scarf shook her head, sighing. “I apologize for them. We’re not the most coherent group, as you can see. I’m Queen. I help keep everyone in line, as impossible as that might seem.”

She glanced over to Joker, Skull, and Panther, who all shot her cheesy grins.

“Anyway,” Oracle spoke up above them, “It’s time for my intro! You know me as Oracle! I’m the team’s navigator and stuff. I’m also a hacker so if you even think about double-crossing us I can and will dox you.”

“I… wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good. Anyway, you can’t see me ‘cause I’m in my Persona, Necronomicon!”

Yamato started. “Necronomicon? The book of the dead?”

“Yup!”

“That’s…”

The thieves all faced Yamato, various looks of disdain ready to appear if one of their own was disrespected.

“That’s so cool!”

The group was collectively surprised at the Persona’s response.

“I’ve never seen an item as a Persona before!” Yamato was close to bursting with excitement. “All of my friends’ Personas are all deities; yours is so different! It makes so much sense though! A navigator shares information to others, and that’s just what the Necronomicon does! And since UFOs are unidentified, like a lot of Lovecraftian monsters… oh it’s just so _interesting_!”

“Uh… ok? Thanks?”

The black masked one giggled then spoke up. “I believe that’s my cue to introduce myself. I am Noir, and the most recent of the team to join. I asked the Thieves to steal Okumura’s heart for personal reasons, but they also needed my help, and here we are!”

Joker grinned. “Now you know about us, what can you share about you?”

What _could_ Yamato say about himself? He already stated that he was a Persona, he wasn’t there to arrest them, and he couldn’t go into specifics about his user.

“Well, there isn’t much I can say that I haven’t said already… but I suppose the most I can say is that I’m here because my user is in the area.”

“What does that mean?” Queen asked.

“It means that the other people who could have dealt with this were unable and had to ask for help. Thus, me.”

“Doesn’t your user have the Metaverse Navigator?” Mona asked suspiciously, “Then we would see them. There’s no reason for a Persona to be by itself.”

“The… what? We had to use a device in order to get me here.”

“Guess that answers that question,” Skull murmured.

“Your group uses a navigator app to get to this place? I guess it’s just as weird as jumping into a TV to enter a cognitive world.”

Queen gaped. “You… jumped in a TV?”

“Yup.”

Joker looked back. “Seems we all have to deal with weird things when it comes to this sort of stuff.”

Yamato Sumeragi nodded. “There’s just no end to the sort of stuff we have to deal with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good exposition? In my story? It's less likely than you think  
> I feel so weird having to introduce the Thieves but Yamato doesn't know them  
> I am absolutely skipping learning about the Personas that's too long (watch me do it anyway)  
> It'll probably be an off screen crash course about the types of moves not in P4 and other stuff
> 
> Next time: idk they'll maybe fight a shadow


End file.
